Used Vehicle Review: Hyundai Accent, 2006-2011

2006 Hyundai Accent GLS. Click image to enlarge

Related articles on Autos First Drive: 2006 Hyundai Accent First Drive: 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback Test Drive: 2006 Hyundai Accent GLS Test Drive: 2006 Hyundai Accent GL Test Drive: 2007 Hyundai Accent GS Sport Test Drive: 2007 Hyundai Accent GS Test Drive: 2008 Hyundai Accent GL Sport Test Drive: 2008 Hyundai Accent L DBDR: 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback Test Drive: 2009 Hyundai Accent Ann. Ed. Used cars: Hyundai Accent, 2000-2006 Buyer’s Guide: 2010 Hyundai Accent Buyer’s Guide: 2009 Hyundai Accent Buyer’s Guide: 2008 Hyundai Accent Buyer’s Guide: 2007 Hyundai Accent Buyer’s Guide: 2006 Hyundai Accent Manufacturer’s web site Hyundai Canada Join Autos’s Facebook group Follow Autos on Twitter

Review and photos by Chris Chase

Hyundai’s history in the subcompact segment started in the mid-1980s, with the introduction of the Excel. The 1995 model year brought with it an all-new subcompact, the Accent, which was redesigned into its third generation in 2006. This review picks up on that third-generation model as Hyundai prepares the fourth-gen, 2012 model for its introduction.

For 2006, the sedan was the first version of the Accent to be replaced; the three- and five-door hatchbacks were carried over, and a new hatchback – a three-door only – was added in 2007.

All Accents were powered by a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder. In the new 2006 sedan, the motor featured variable valve timing, which helped boost horsepower to 110, from 104 in the carried-over hatchbacks. The redesigned 2007 hatch got the new motor when it was introduced. Transmission choices were a five-speed manual and an optional four-speed automatic.

The new engine was a leap forward for fuel consumption, which hadn’t been an Accent strong suit. The 2006 sedan was rated at 8.3/5.9 L/100 km with the automatic transmission, compared to 8.9/6.2. Manual cars were more efficient in both cases. In 2009, efficiency took another jump forward, as the Accent’s ratings improved to 7.9/5.6 L/100 km (with the automatic), and improved a little more again in 2010, to 7.6/5.5, thanks to low-friction engine oil, a “smart” alternator and an economy indicator in the dashboard.

2007 Hyundai Accent GS Comfort (top); 2008 Hyundai Accent GL Sport (bottom photo by Greg Wilson). Click image to enlarge

While the Accent was a big improvement over the Excel it replaced, its overall quality hasn’t reached that which has been achieved by some of Hyundai’s other recent models. The third-generation Accent still suffers from automatic transmission problems – albeit relatively minor ones – caused by a faulty speed sensor/pulse generator – when this small electronic component fails, it can cause poor shift quality, and, it seems, a loss of drive altogether in the worst cases.

Consumer Reports also notes complaints from many owners about batteries that go dead rather suddenly and cause problems with starting and other electrical systems.

The emissions control system is a trouble spot, too, with CR again reporting complaints about the check engine light coming on thanks to a bad sensor somewhere in the system.

Overall, though, CR gives the Accent an above-average reliability rating in 2007 and 2008, and average in 2009 (CR doesn’t have reliability data for 2006 and 2010).

2006 Hyundai Accent GLS (top); 2007 Hyundai Accent GL Comfort. Click image to enlarge

Crash safety is only so-so, depending on which of the two big U.S. testing agencies you ask. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the Accent an “acceptable” rating in its frontal offset crash test due to a high likelihood of lower leg injury to the driver. The IIHS side impact test revealed a good chance of rib fractures or internal organ injuries to the driver, while indicating a possibility of pelvis fracture for a rear seat passenger. That result netted the Accent a “poor” rating in side impact safety.

From the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Accent earned five stars for driver and front passenger protection in its frontal crash test, and four and three stars respectively for front and rear seat occupant safety in side impacts.

It’s worth noting that the IIHS frontal offset test is a better test of a car’s structural strength than the NHTSA’s “full frontal” test, because in the IIHS test, the same amount of force is being applied to a smaller area of the car’s front-end structure. Another fact to note is that the cars used in both organization’s tests had side airbags, which could only be had in Canada on top-trim models (both sedan and hatch through 2007, and then sedan only from 2008 onward).

2006 Hyundai Accent GLS. Click image to enlarge

Pricing, per Canadian Black Book, ranges from $4,850 for a 2006 GL sedan with manual transmission (the old-style two-door hatch is less expensive in GS trim, at $4,050), to $12,825 for a 2010 GLS sedan (which could only be had with the automatic). If you want an efficient, inexpensive car that’s also a little bit of fun to toss around, try a 2009 GL hatch with the sport package, which added 16-inch wheels/tires and a tighter suspension. It’s no Mini Cooper, but it’s a far sight better than the base car, whose soft suspension sets the car bobbing and bouncing down the road.

The Accent is a well-established nameplate from a company that has just about come into its own, thanks to successive improvements in every car it redesigns. While I generally think highly of Hyundai, the Accent doesn’t quite seem to have shed its reputation for so-so dependability, and crash safety concerns are a cause for worry, too.